Not sure how it got to be that time of year where I stare at a blank screen and rewind the past year. I’m not one who makes New Year’s Resolutions, and there is a saying about never looking back because you aren’t going that way. Never one for following convention, I love to reflect on the passing year. Am I looking back to see what I’ve learned? Oh, hell, no. Looking back makes me happy…occasionally sad, maybe even angry, and sure, I’ve probably learned a few things along the way (you know all that “life-long” learner stuff), but there’s nothing wrong with glancing in the rearview mirror. I don’t want to forget all those beautiful moments, people, and places that are behind me. As selfish as this may sound, I write my stories for me. It brings me joy and maybe, just maybe down the road an outline for a book. The fact that you choose to join me on my journey and listen to my stories, well, the proverbial “icing on the cake”. Since the page is no longer blank…a look back!
I rolled into January with my 2 flatmates/partners in crime from Azerbaijan…Tarlan and Zaka. I say partners in crime because after attending a birthday party, we hopped on a bus and headed to Warsaw Old Town, our arms laden with bottle rockets, sparklers, firecrackers, and whatnot. Side note: I’m fairly certain these are not exactly legal in the city center. Although, I have heard that it’s “okay” on New Year’s Eve, haha. Thankfully, we weren’t the only hooligans on the streets. It might not have been the best idea to stop and knock back a shot of whiskey from a street vendor or duck into Pijana Wisnia for some hot cherry liquor, but we did. We shot off our arsenal, rang in the new year, and eventually headed home. Welcome to 2023!
In January, I enjoy celebrating The Feast of the Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, or Little Christmas as my mom called it. January 6th is a big deal in Poland. It is a bank holiday so most everything is closed, and people don’t work. Three Kings Day is celebrated with colorful and grand processions in most major cities in Poland. The parade honors the three wise men – Kaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar…complete with the kings riding on live camels. In Warsaw, the annual holiday procession usually begins at noon with the Angelus prayer near Sigismund’s Column on Plac Zamkowy, before winding its way through the Old Town to the live nativity scene on Plac Piłsudskiego. It is quite enjoyable to walk with the processions, people (adults and kids alike) donning crowns and singing Christmas carols as they walk.
The rest of January and all of February were pretty quiet. I celebrated Tłusty Czwartek (Fat Thursday) on February 16th by buying pączki, rose filled of course. Although this year I didn’t spend 3 hours waiting in line in the rain. I went to a different shop, and I went a day early.
I have always had an interest in King Tut and even more after traveling to see the pyramids in Giza in 2022. When I saw Tutankhamun: His Tomb and His Treasures, an exhibition touring around the globe was in Warsaw, it was a must-visit for me.
March also found me at Jeff’s American Restaurant-Home of Happy People sharing typical American fare and a lovely evening with some of my co-workers from Eklektika (the language school I work for). An evening that turned into 4 am when I decided to hit Nowy Swiat (New World Street) and party it up with a co-worker from South Africa but living in Krakow. This is where I discovered wściekły pies shots. Wściekły pies translates to mad dog and is made by pouring chilled raspberry syrup into a shot glass (the official recipe says ½ of the shot glass, but I prefer ¼ haha), topped with chilled vodka and then 3 or 4 drops of Tabasco. I still can’t pronounce wściekły pies so for me they are whiskey pies.
Near my flat is Fabryka Norblina. It is the site of a silver-plating factory in which 10 historic buildings have been restored/renovated into offices, shops, restaurants, cafes, Food Town, an eco-bazaar, a boutique cinema, and an open-air museum commemorating the history of one of the largest industrial enterprises of the former Kingdom of Poland! Being a fan of Monet and after seeing the Van Gogh Immersive twice, I noticed an ad for Art Box. Art Box is a multifunctional space for immersive experiences, where unique multisensory exhibitions, performances, concerts, and events are created at the intersection of art, science, digital technology, and entertainment. Fabryka Norblina is a five-minute walk from my flat, so, I was quickly online buying a ticket when I saw Immersive Monet and the Impressionists being advertised.
The artistic experience consisted of almost one and a half million video frames and over 3,000 images featuring artists such as Claude Monet, August Renoir, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, Paul Cezanne, Eduard Manet, and Eugene Boudin. I know I spent at least 2 hours on the experience.
April arrived with the young’uns I live/hang with convincing me to go for a late-night billiards session. I didn’t do bad considering I haven’t shot pool in a long time.
Easter found me in Budapest, Hungary which ticked a new country. I knew little about Budapest other than it is the capital city. I also realized I could not name one other city in Hungary. Even after googling cities in Hungary, I still didn’t know any. I arrived in Budapest with little to no plan other than meeting up with friends who would be embarking on a Viking River Cruise from there.
I did have my sight set on the Ruin Bars, which ended up being around the corner from my Airbnb. Ruin Bars popped up in Budapest around 2001. They are found in once-abandoned, derelict buildings and unused outdoor spaces. They have been transformed into friendly, chaotic, lively, colorful bars laden with graffiti and eclectic décor.
Near Budapest’s parliament is a memorial called Cipők a Duna-parton or Shoes on the Danube Bank. It is a memorial erected on 16 April 2005. Conceived by film director Can Togay, he created it on the east bank of the Danube River with sculptor Gyula Pauer to honor the Jews who were massacred by fascist Hungarian militia belonging to the Arrow Cross Party in Budapest during the Second World War. They were ordered to take off their shoes (shoes were valuable and could be stolen and resold by the militia after the massacre) and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away.
Another highlight was Easte
r Lunch at the New York Café. Now Instagram famous it is dubbed as the most beautiful café in the world. I ended my trip to Budapest enjoying dinner with the brother and sister-in-law of friends from the States who live in Budapest. That’s all I’m going to say about Budapest but if you are interested in more you can read about it at this link in my blog https://wendyjmarvin.com/2023/04/23/reflections-on-friends-goodbyes-and-budapest/. It is a fascinating city.
The last day of April and the 1st of May should probably have their own blog post, but I will try to summarize it here, haha. There once was a box…it left Warren, Ohio in December of 2021 and was from my friend Teri. After months of tracking, it was supposedly somewhere in Poland, but no one could tell me where or when I might get it. End of June 2022 I left for Bulgaria and wouldn’t return to Warsaw until late September. Sometime in August 2022, I received a message that I had a package (it was THE BOX) to pick up at the post office. Not being in Poland, I asked my friend Valeria to see if they would let her pick it up (they wouldn’t) or if they could hold it until I returned (they couldn’t). The box would be shipped back to the US of A. Fast forward to sometime in January 2023. The box arrived back to Teri. She was going to re-send it, but FedEx wanted around $400.
Not long after that, I received a message from a classmate of Teri’s husband, Michael. Anne would be coming to Poland to research her ancestry and asked if there was anything she could bring me. Anne came to Warsaw, we planned to meet on April 30th for lunch. Teri had sent her the contents of THE BOX (not all as it would have been too much stuff). We met, she handed off the merchandise and we went for a lovely al fresco lunch in Plac Konesera in the Praga district. After lunch, we headed to Old Town to sit, and we watched people while sipping a beverage. Then we decided to go back to Praga and visit the Vodka Museum. Well, we had just gotten off the tram and we were walking toward the Museum, and I dropped the “F” bomb. I left the package sitting next to the outside table at the restaurant in Old Town. Anne asked if I wanted to go back. I said no, this is Poland, someone will turn it in, and I will get it on my way home. I’ll call from the museum. No one answered the phone, but I was able to send a message through Google and I got a reply. They said, “We have your package.” I told them I would be there later to get it. Well, we left the vodka museum and decided on a nightcap. The little Polish-French bartender was 20 and kept us entertained until we finally decided to call it a night. I said goodbye to Anne and headed to the tram stop, not realizing it was so late the tram I needed had stopped running. No problem, I called an Uber who dropped me as close to Old Town as possible as there is no vehicle traffic on the weekends. Long story not short, a wee bit tipsy and sometime nearing midnight in Warsaw I picked up the package. Another Uber to get me home with my treasures. I had asked Teri for a (note the word “a” meaning one) packet of ranch dressing mix (no one knows what ranch is here) she of course sent me 12. She also sent a Christmas shirt and “Home” hoodie from Sunrise Inn of Warren, an MTS painting company shirt from Michael and Anne tossed in a bag of candy. That my friends is the saga of the box from 2021.
May had started exciting with the delivery of “THE BOX”. Then, I received a notification informing me that I had been selected for the 2023 class of the Warren City Schools Foundation Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame. My brother had been inducted a few years earlier, so joining him was an honor. Of course, living in Poland, it wasn’t convenient for me to attend the induction ceremony and my brother would not be in Warren at the time to accept my award. Thankfully, my dear friend, Teri, attended and accepted it on my behalf.
I rounded out May with a trip to the shooting gallery with friends. I shot a sports pistol, a Glock 17 (my least favorite), a Colt 1911 pistol, an AK-47 Kalashnikov machine gun (my favorite), a shotgun, and a Glaubeyrt sub-machine gun.
It was my first time shooting most of these guns, but I have to say I liked shooting the AK-47. The shooting range, PM Shooter, was well run and our instructor was extremely patient and knowledgeable. It was also very crowded (it was a weekend) and I was surprised by the interest in shooting in Poland. More trips to the range in the future. After shooting, what could be better than heading out for pizza?
In May, I also got to meet one of my students face-to-face (my classes are online). He knew I had a love of Vietnam, especially Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City. We also had talked about the time I shot a jeep-mounted machine gun when visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels which are about an hour and a half outside of Saigon. Anyway, he returned from a tour of the country and told me he had something for me. It was a Starbucks mug (he knew I collected them) from HCMC. It was great meeting him, receiving the mug, and most of all seeing his bright red Camaro.
Halfway through the year, it was time to start thinking about getting ready for summer on the Black Sea in Bulgaria at Zenira Camp. I like to travel a bit after Camp ends but this year I had no set plan. Other than if I went somewhere, I needed to be back in Warsaw before Teri arrived on September 6th. I arrived in Kiten, Bulgaria on June 22nd, 4 days before the kids. Time to relax, regroup, and plan before we hit the ground running. Even though I have had my share of time off, “days” at camp don’t really matter or even seem to exist. I often don’t know if it is a Tuesday or a Saturday. A single day can drag by and at the same time they all run together, and another week is starting. In the evening, sitting having a cold beverage with my co-workers, maybe after a “tough” (tough as camp can get, LOL), we may have grumbled, “OMG, it’s only week 3, we have 5 more to go.” Next thing you know, we are sharing a beverage and saying, “How is tomorrow the last day of camp?”
After 5 weeks of camp routine, the only plan I had was to go to Veliko Tarnovo to visit long-time friends when camp finished. At some point, there had been a plan to meet my flatmates in Azerbaijan, but that wasn’t going to work out. The flight to Azerbaijan would have been through Istanbul, Türkiye. If that had worked out I was also planning to stay over a few days in Istanbul. Sometime that first week of August I said to myself, “Even if you can’t go to Azerbaijan, why not Istanbul after camp?” and booked a ticket. Camp ended on August 19th. I headed by train to Veliko Tarnovo on the 21st, followed by a bus to Sofia on the 24th and a shuttle to the airport for my flight to Istanbul.
I arrived in Istanbul with little knowledge of the city and no plan. As I started researching Istanbul I had to ask myself why it wasn’t on my travel radar. I also decided I needed to extend my stay so I could make a side trip somewhere in the country. Did you know that Istanbul only became Istanbul in 1930? Before that, it was known as Constantinople, named after Constantine the Great. Not only that, but it is the world’s only transcontinental city. The western side of the Bosphorus Strait is in Europe and when you cross to the other side you are on the Asian continent. The morning after I arrived I set out to explore the area, Balat, in which I was staying and to have a traditional Turkish breakfast.
The breakfast at the Velvet Café did not disappoint. I am not going to get into my escapades in Istanbul or my side trip to Göreme in Cappadocia (Instagram famous for hot air balloons), but you can read more about it here. Since returning, I have read a great book by Elif Shafak called “10 Minutes and 38 Seconds in This Strange World”. Much of the book takes place in Istanbul and I wish I had read it before I went, so I’m just throwing it out there if anyone is interested. The bottom line is I am glad I decided to go to Istanbul and take a side trip to Göreme. Even extending my trip by 3 days, I was back in Warsaw with time to rest before a whirlwind visit with my friend Teri.
Since she was going to be in Dublin for a wedding and I was not sure how much longer I would be in Warsaw, we decided it was the perfect opportunity for me to show her the city I currently call home. I snagged her from the airport on Wednesday around noonish and didn’t give her time to breathe. We dropped her stuff off at the Airbnb which happened to be in the building next to mine and headed to Fabryka Norblina, which I mentioned earlier, for lunch. Then it was off across the river to the Praga District and Koneser Bar ¾ at the Vodka Museum for some cocktails, then back to Old Town for Dinner. I needed tartare in my life. A stroll through Old Town, a walk along the Royal Route a stop at Pijana Wisnia for cherry liquor before heading to Nowy Swiat and “whiskey pies”, haha. Remember those shots? Wow, all that just since noon. The rest of her trip was definitely a whirlwind of eating, drinking, and meeting my friends/tribe. It was over in a flash, and she was heading to the airport on Sunday.
September in Warsaw for me means the start of a new school year. Thankfully most of my classes didn’t start until October because 2 weeks after Teri left, I was heading to Paris to meet up with my friend Cathy. We were going to be on a 3-week adventure starting in Paris, France, then on to Casablanca, Essaouira, and Marrakech, Morocco, then back to Paris and on to Krakow, Gdansk, and Warsaw Poland. I’m just going to touch on a few highlights because this is already turning into a small novel. I started off thinking I had a relatively calm 2023 until I started writing, so if you’re still with me congratulations because I must keep taking breaks from writing so I wouldn’t blame you if you had moved on…September 20th off to the city of my heart…Paris!
Paris is always a good idea…it was a rainy morning when I left Warsaw. Paris, of course, is beautiful no matter the weather, but happily, it was partly cloudy and mid-70s Fahrenheit. Cathy was already at our Airbnb when I arrived and we didn’t have much time because we were meeting other friends from Warren, Ohio at Harry’s New York Bar…a must-visit when in Paris. That took up most of the afternoon and after a short rest we were off to meet them on the steps of Sacre Coeur for sunset with wine and pizza from “home”, the Sunrise Inn of Warren.
A few other highlights of the week were a visit to the Ice Kube Bar, and the Chagall Immersive Experience at Atelier des Lumières followed by lunch at Balls. We took a day trip to Auvers sur Oise, the place where Vincent Van Gogh spent the last 70 days of his life producing 74 paintings and 30 drawings before dying on 29 July 1890. No visit to Auvers is complete without a visit to the Absinthe Museum and a hike to the cemetery where Vincent and his brother Theo are buried. Back to Paris with no itinerary except wandering and café hopping before heading to Morocco.
As busy as Paris is, landing in Marrakech is a 180° labyrinth of colorful, chaotic activity. Riads are traditional Moroccan houses or palaces with an indoor garden and courtyard. They are located within the old city “Medina” walls, and many are used as guesthouses. We located ours, got settled in, and headed out to explore the medina. That evening we enjoyed a lovely tajine meal on our rooftop. The next day, I had a mission. The last time I was in Marrakech was during the pandemic times and the Café Clock was closed. Why did I want to visit Café Clock? Simple…I wanted to eat a camel burger. It was necessary to take a tuk-tuk to the restaurant, which is an experience in itself. Mission accomplished…yummy camel burger consumed…our tuk-tuk driver retrieved us and dropped us back in the center of the medina.
The next day we were off to Casablanca. The first destination was Rick’s Café, inspired by the 1942 film “Casablanca”, where I enjoyed a classic gin martini.
Casablanca sits on the North Atlantic in Northwest Africa and is the largest city in Morocco. After leaving Rick’s Café we walked along the sea to the Hassan II Mosque. It is the largest functioning mosque in Africa and is one of the largest in the world. Its minaret is the world’s tallest minaret at 210 meters (689 ft). A maximum of 105,000 worshippers can gather for prayer: 25,000 inside the mosque hall and another 80,000 on the mosque’s outside ground. Then it was back to Marrakech because we had a day trip to Essaouira planned.
Located about 200 km west of Marrakech is the seaside town of Essaouira. We walked around the port and then chose lobster, prawns, and fish to be grilled for lunch. Essaouira, known until the 1960s as Mogador, is a port city in the western Moroccan region of Marrakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic coast. In the Berber language, which is spoken by a sizeable proportion of the city’s inhabitants, it is called Taṣṣort, meaning “the small fortress”. Archaeological research shows that Essaouira has been occupied since prehistoric times. It was a lovely day on the North Atlantic.
We spent the last couple of days in Marrakech wandering around the medina before heading back to Paris on the first of October.
Back in Paris for a few days just enjoying the city. We did get tickets for the opening of a special Van Gogh Exhibit at the Musee d’Orsay. The exhibition was the devoted to the works produced by Vincent Van Gogh during the last two months of his life, in Auvers-sur-Oise. From Paris, we made our way to Warsaw, but first, a stop in Krakow and a visit to Auschwitz followed by a late train to Warsaw.
My semester had begun so I was also working. I managed to show Cathy a good bit of Warsaw and we even took a weekend day trip to Gdansk before she headed back to the States.
For me, the rest of October was mainly teaching my classes. November 1st is an important holiday in Poland, All Saints Day (Wszystkich Swietych). On the 1st of November, millions of Poles come to cemeteries to light special candles, leave flowers, and pray for the dead. I love visiting cemeteries but on the evening of All Saints Day, it is a sight to behold. I belong to a Facebook group for female travelers.
One of the women in this group reached out to me because she would be in Warsaw on this day. We met and wandered the cemetery together and then went for a glass of wine followed by dinner at a favorite restaurant near the cemetery, Maghreb, which just happens to have Moroccan cuisine.
I have another friend, Lenore… Yeah, I have a couple of friends. Well, she was guiding a tour around Italy at the beginning of November. One of the beauties of living in Warsaw is the ease and cost of flights in and around Europe. I can be anywhere in 3 hours or less. I knew when she was going to be in Rome. I booked a last-minute ticket to the Eternal City. I didn’t tell her I was coming because I had their itinerary and figured I would just pop in and surprise her. Great idea in theory but little did I know the itinerary had been adjusted since the one I had. Just off of Piazza Navona is a bar called La Botticella opened in 1991 by Giovanni Poggi. It has since taken on a Pittsburgh Steelers theme, even selling Italian “terrible towels”. Lenore being from the Pittsburgh area, was supposed to bring the group to this bar Wednesday night….NOT! This is the itinerary change. For the record, I am not a Pittsburgh fan, but I love Lenore so decided this was the place to surprise her. Sitting at the bar chatting with Giovanni, sipping a martini, an hour goes by, and then 2. Hmmm, maybe I better give Dave (her hubby) a call. Somehow, my timing was perfect, and he had gotten separated from her so she still wouldn’t know I was in Rome. They were on an evening tour of the Colosseum and then were heading back to their hotel. Damn, what now? Dave said he would convince her to go for a nightcap and would message me when they were on the way and where. Well, with Dave’s help, I later found out he can’t keep secrets but kept this one (only from her as he told some others), I walked up to Lenore as she got off the bus and she was surprised!!! Needless to say, one nightcap turned into several, and we made plans to meet up the next day for lunch and then back to the Steelers Bar before I had to fly back to Warsaw. It was a 36-hour whirlwind and worth every minute.
The year was quickly coming to a close. I prepared Thanksgiving dinner for a myriad of friends from Poland, Azerbaijan, Jordan, and Ukraine. December in Warsaw is beautiful. The city is decorated to the nines. I love going to Old Town for some mulled wine and a stroll to view the lights and decorations. My former flatmates, Anu and Anil from Nepal, welcomed a new baby boy before year-end. I celebrated Christmas with my current flatmates and friends, and we planned New Year’s Eve. New Year’s Eve picks up where this blog started, with my partners in crime Tarlan and Zaka. We started with a video call to Tarlan’s family in Azerbaijan. We had a couple of shots with them and soon our party of three had grown to ten.
New flatmate Zoia from Italy via Ukraine and her mom, who was visiting, had spent much of the day preparing typical Ukrainian salads for the New Year. More friends came over and we had some cocktails before hitting the streets with bottles of bubbly to ring in the New Year! At midnight on the streets of Old Town with a group of 20-somethings, I welcomed 2024.
I am not sure what 2024 has in store for me. As much as I love my life in Poland, it is easy to get too comfortable. Although I don’t have a solid plan, it is likely 2024 will be my last in Poland. Before you ask, no, I don’t plan to return to the USA, at least not right away. I want to experience places that aren’t Paris, Rome, London, or Warsaw. I want to drink Georgian wine in Georgia and visit the place Tarlan and Zaka call home Azerbaijan. I want to see those countries you can’t pronounce, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. I want to visit friends in South Korea, China, Bali and more. I want to do a WorkAway in India, visit Jordan, see my friend Omar’s home country, and visit Albania before it becomes too touristic. I want to do it all without a plan other than knowing all the visa requirements for countries. Who knows how much I can accomplish, and a lot can change in a year, but I leave you with a quote, author unknown, I keep in a folder called Notes to Self on my phone: “There will be a few times in your life when all your instincts will tell you to do something, something that defies logic, upsets your plans, and may seem crazy to others. When that happens, you do it. Listen to your instincts and ignore everything else. Ignore logic, ignore the odds, ignore the complications, and just go for it.”
It’s 2024…make the best of it! Life is short and the world is wide.
Down the Rabbit Hole 